Institutional Theory

of Art

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE
INSTITUTIONAL
THEORY
George Dickie
Arthur Danto
Art is an institution
in the society

“ARTWORLD”
 THE ARTWORLD
People in the position of power

artists
art critics
art historians/educators
art patrons/curators
art museums/galleries
schools/clubs
art awards
recognitions/popularity
art journals
TV/newspapers
 For something to become art is like for
someone to become a dentist or an engineer,
must pass all the standards set by the school as
an institution

ART
For someone to become an artist is like for a
person to become a member of the Catholic
church and rise to the hierarchy, must go
through all the stages prescribed by the church
as an institution.
 How to Elementary Graduate
be an
High School Graduate
engineer?
College Graduate

Pass the Board Exam

Work in Company
 HOW TO BE THE POPE IN THE
INSTITUTION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?
Man

Seminarian

Deacon

Priest
Bishop

Cardinal

Pope
BOXING AS AN Nevada Athletic
Commission
INSTITUTION
Three Judges

Referee

Promoters

Pacquiao and
Mayweather

Media

Audience
 HOW TO BE RECOGNIZED AS AN ARTIST
BY THE ARTWORLD-INSTITUTION?
• Has skill and talent
• Study in art school
• Has degree in fine arts
• Become a member of art
organizations
• Win recognitions, prizes and
awards
• Has artworks exhibited in
museums, galleries
• Mentioned in books, media
and art history
• Become well known
• Revolutionized art
 A thing becomes art because it is
acknowledged to be art by the Artworld.

World of ordinary objects ARTWORLD

(Non-Art) (Art)
Duchamp,
Fountain
(Urinal)
1917
• Bedfordshire Model Urinal
• Entry in an art exhibit by the
Society of Independent Artists
• Submitted by Marcel Duchamp
(R. Mutt) in 1917
• Has 8 reproductions, one copy
sold for 1.7 million dollars in 1999
• Exhibited in many museums in
the world
• Voted by art critics and historians
as the most influential artwork of
the 20th century
• Represents a “Copernican shift
in art”
• Included in art history books
• Discussed in classroom lectures
Duchamp
Bicycle Wheel
1914

“That is art,
because I
say so!”
 A GREAT ART!
Made by Leonardo
da Vinci, it is the
most historical,
the most popular
and well-known,
the most influential,
the most expensive,
Renaissance
painting in the
world.
The Mouse
 PABLO
PICASSO “The most famous
and successful artist
of the 20th century.”
“The most influential
painter in the history
of modern art.”
Art genius
Originator of cubism
75 years of art career
13,500 paintings
100,000 prints
34,000 illustrations
300 sculptures
 TRIVIA
Pablo Diego Jose Francisco
de Paula Juan Nepomuceno
de los Remedios Crispin Cipriano de la
Santissima Trinidad y Picasso
 Rhea Regis
Feminist Arrest
2009

Who’s that?
 Who
originally
made this
design?
 Godofredo Fabreo
The River and My House, 2008
(Final Project in Humanities)
The Artworld holds the power
to recognize and confer the
status of an art.
Is this art?
Javacheff, Wrapped Reichtag, Berlin Germany, 1995

INSTALLATION ART
 CHRISTO
JAVACHEFF
Vienna Academy of
Fine Arts
Honorary Degree,
Occidental College
Elected into
National Academy
of Design
Awardee, Premium
Imperiale
Javacheff, Wrappped Trees, Switzerland, 1998
Javacheff, Wrapped Cans and Bottles, 1972
Javacheff, Wrapped Woman, 1968
Javacheff, Running Fence, California, 5.5 m
high, 40 km long. 2,152,780 square feet of
white nylon fabric, hung from a steel cable
strung between 2,050 steel poles secured by
350,000 hooks. LONGEST INSTALLATION ART
FERNANDO AMORSOLO

“Grand old man of Filipino painters”

“Master of tropical scenery”
“First Filipino impressionist”
Most popular painter in the country
Made more than 10,000 paintings
Won First Prize, New York Fair, 1939
Dean, UP College of Fine Arts
First Philippine National Artist
ILLUSTRATION
IN THE BOOK
PHILIPPINE
READER
By Fernando Amorsolo
 POP ART
Amorsolo, Label
of Ginebra San
Miguel

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE

 DON AMORSOLO
• Grandson of Fernando Amorsolo
• CAS-UE, Manila – Art Appreciation Professor
• St. Scholastica’s College- Department chair of Fine Arts
and Interior Design
• UE Caloocan College of Fine Arts and Design- College Secretary
• Graduate work at Charles University in Prague
• Scholar at the United Board of Christian Higher Education in
Asia, New York
• International Fellow at the E. Boyer Center, Pennsylvania.
• University of the Pacific Fulbright scholar, Stockton
DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE
Don S. Amorsolo
Bridges: Flux
2010
Don S. Amorsolo
Bridges: Journey
2010
Don S. Amorsolo
Bridges: Complexity
2010
 Mideo Cruz
Poleteismo
Kulo Exhibit
2009, CCP

STYLE
Installation
Art
 Recipient, CCP Artist Award, 2003
Grantee, Art Tuilage, Burgundy
France, 2005

MIDEO
Resident Artist, Gauchet Gallery,
Vancouver Canada, 2007
CRUZ Fellow, Asian Cultural Center, New
IN THE York, 2009
ARTWORLD Resident Artist, Headland Center for
the Arts, San Francisco USA, 2008
Recipient, Visiting Foreign Artist Fund,
Canada Council for the Arts, 2010
Art Exhibits in Switzerland, Singapore,
Australia, US, Serbia, China, Germany
CARLO J. CAPARAS
Named by Pres. Arroyo in 2009 as
National Artist of the Philippines for
Visual Art and Film, amidst protest
mostly from the academic sector.
The Supreme Court nullified the
proclamation of Caparas in 2013.
ART OR NON-ART?
https://professionalheckler.com/2009/08/09/totooy-ba-to/

POINT OF VIEW OF THE INTELLIGENSIA CLASS

President Arroyo has recently declared former security guard turned Filipino
comic strip creator/writer-turned director and producer Magno Jose “Carlo” J.
Caparas as National Artist for a new & “mixed” category she herself created,
“Visual Arts & Film.” GMA’s choice of Caparas though was not surprising since
Mrs. Arroyo’s rise to power itself was a work of fiction.

In last week’s protest action, Armida Siguion-Reyna said she didn’t want to
address her message to Carlo J. Caparas because “mahina ang kanyang ulo,” to
which his wife, Donna Villa said, “Mahina man ang ulo, malakas naman sa
pangulo.”

“Mr. Caparas, this is Dr. Butch Dalisay, director of the UP Institute of Creative
Writing, UP College of Arts and Letters. Allow me please to share my thoughts
on your controversial palace-backed recognition. But before I say my piece, may
thesaurus o dictionary ka ba sa tabi mo? You’ll need one.”

“Carlo, si Joel Lamangan ‘to. Walang personalan huh pero… hindi ko keri ang
award mo! Maloloka ako sa ‘yo!”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_J._Caparas

POINT OF VIEW OF INTELLIGENSIA CLASS

Complaints regarding Caparas' proclamation centered on the complaints that he
did not illustrate the comic books he wrote and was therefore not qualified for the
honor under visual arts, and the assertion of protesting artists that his work in the
category of Film is supposedly "sub-par", being largely "pito-pito"(literally, "seven-
seven"; films rush-finished in seven days), and "massacre films" whose focus was
sensational crimes.
POINT OF VIEW OF CAPARAS
Caparas said that instead of criticizing his award, entertainment people "should
unite and work together to revive the ailing movie and komiks industry." He
attributed his win to the fact that he managed to cross over from comic books to
film and television, and saying that his triumph was significant because he was a
National Artist who came from the working class.... "I am a National Artist who
came from the masses", the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted him as saying. "I work
and struggle with them." He said it was time for a National Artist "who the masses
can identify with—someone who walks beside them, someone who can inspire
them." Noting that some Filipinos did not even know the National Artists he said
"Hopefully, since I am still active in TV and in the movies, this will encourage our
countrymen to learn more about our National Artists."
IS THIS BOOK A GREAT IS SHE A GREAT
WORK OF LITERATURE? WRITER?

Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007

Trisha Co Reyes
(13 Years Old),
Life in the Forest
2011

First Place,
20th International
Children’s Painting
Competition on the
Environment
organized by the
United Nations
Environment
Programme
 HOW MUCH DO YOU
EXIST IN THE WWW?

NAME NUMBER OF HITS

“Leonardo da Vinci” 33,700,000
“Pablo Picasso” 20,100,000
“Marcel Duchamp” 958,000
“Fernando Amorsolo” 98,000